Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The world's smallest mother, 2ft 4in Stacey Herald, gives birth to her THIRD baby in just THREE years —

The world's smallest mother, Stacey Herald, is celebrating the birth of her third baby.

Doctors warned Stacey, who is just 2ft 4ins, it would be too dangerous for her to ever have children.

But the determined 35-year-old defied medics to have a family and has given birth to three babies in the last three years.

Her new son Malachi was born eight weeks prematurely by caesarian section on November 28, weighing just 2lb 10oz.

Stacey holds Malachi after she is allowed to take him out of the incubator for a few precious moments —

Stacey, who has 34 stitches across her stomach, said: 'He's the most beautiful perfect boy I've ever seen.

'All I want to do is stay by his side.' She had been expected to give birth just before Christmas, but doctors decided it was not safe to let the pregnancy go any longer.

The mum of three from Kentucky, USA, has a rare genetic disorder called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which causes brittle bones, underdeveloped lungs and stunted growth.

She uses a wheelchair but manages to care for daughters Kateri, three, and Makya, 18 months, with the help of husband Wil, 27, a trainee priest.

Stacey was told having children would risk her life because the pressure of the pregnancy would put too much pressure on her body and squash her internal organs.

But after marrying Wil, who is 5ft 9ins, in 2005, Stacey bravely decided to go ahead with her plans for a family.

Stacey and her 5ft 9ins husband Wil Herald together before Stacey gives birth. They are already proud parents of two daughters, Kateri, three, and one-year-old Makya —

'Mum told me I'd die, but I reminded her I was a miracle, and a baby would be a miracle, too,' she said.

Now the couple have three children and have not ruled out the possibility of more.

Baby Malachi, who is just five inches long, is being cared for at a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will have to stay in an incubator for several months.

His sister Kateri, who has the same condition as Stacey, spent the first five months of her life in hospital.

Although most normal mothers would find three children under four a challenge, Stacey said Wil helps her care for them.

'Now Malachi is here, I can get about better and can feed and change the girls again,' she said.

'Anything I can't do, Wil can. He's great at getting up in the night and changing diapers and feeding the girls, he really is a blessing.' She added: 'Malachi is having trouble feeding and some circulation problems, but the doctors say he's doing well.

'I feel heartbroken every time we have to go home and leave him in the hospital.

'We're looking forward to the day he's strong enough to come home.'

Stacey visits her newborn baby boy in NICU (Neonatal intensive-care unit) at the hospital. Herald had expected to give birth right before Christmas —

After some tests, it was decided that it would be too dangerous for Herald, who suffers from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, to carry the baby any longer, fearing that the pregnancy might crush her organs —